Riverview, Arbutus Targeted for Rat Eradication

Baltimore County has targeted two area neighborhoods for a special rat eradication effort that will begin this week.

Riverview and an area of Arbutus have been identified as neighborhoods where concerted clean-up and treatment will be focused, according to Lionel Van Dommelen, chief of the county's Code Inspection and Enforcement Bureau.

"We'll be working with neighborhoods with the most complaints of rats," Van Dommelen said.

County crews will remove debris and cut back weeds in areas harboring rats, he said. A contractor has been hired to find rat burrows and treat them with poison.

The project is funded by $150,000 earmarked by the county council after a pilot project on the eastern side of the county in 2010 was successful, Van Dommelen said.

If the effort continues to be effective, the council has budgeted money to fund targeted rat eradication for five years for a total of $750,000, he said.

Van Dommelen said that county crews will be targeting one neighborhood at a time from this week through autumn. Beginning Thursday, Mar. 15, crews will post signs in neighborhoods to inform residents about the program and give them time to opt out before rat poison is placed four weeks later.

"Every week, we'll be doing a new neighborhood," Van Dommelen said.

The entire community of Riverview has been identified for rat eradication, as well as a portion of Arbutus in the 21229 zip code, including Elm Ridge Avenue and Meadow Lane Apartments, he said.

"The plan is to treat all of Riverview," Van Dommelen said.

Big Dan the Pest Man has been contracted to eradicate rats once county crews have cleared debris. Rat hunter Dan "Big Dan" Purdie said that burrows will be treated with a powdered poison called Ditrac, and then collapsed to force the rodent to dig back out and get powder on its fur.

"Rats are constantly grooming themselves, like cats," Purdie said. "They ingest the poison, and a week to ten days later they're dead."

Ditrac, also known by its chemical name diphacinone, is described as a second-generation anticoagulant that causes rats to die from internal bleeding.

"It only takes a lick or two to do the job," said Van Dommelen said.

The poison can be harmful to humans and animals, so Purdie recommends that pet owners keep their animals away from areas that have been treated or where poisoned rats may be found.

Residents can choose not to have their property treated with poison, Van Dommelen said.

"If a resident opts out, they're be responsible for their own [rat] extermination," he said.